LIPA ARCHBISHOP Gilbert Garcera has been elected president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), with his term set to begin on Dec. 1.
Elected alongside Garcera was Zamboanga Archbishop Julius Tonel, a Thomasian, who will serve as vice president.
Garcera and Tonel will succeed Kalookan Bishop Pablo Virgilio Cardinal David and Pasig Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara, respectively, who will complete their final four-year terms in November.
The Lipa prelate is the CBCP Permanent Council’s regional representative for Southeast Luzon. He also previously chaired the CBCP Commission on Mission and Commission on Family and Life, and served as the CBCP assistant secretary general and assistant treasurer.
Garcera was appointed archbishop of Lipa in 2017, after serving for a decade as bishop of Daet.
He was ordained priest for the Archdiocese of Caceres in 1983 and as bishop in 2007.
Tonel is the chairman of the CBCP Committee on Bishops’ Concerns. He was also chairman of the CBCP Commission on Liturgy.
Tonel obtained his bachelor’s degree in sacred theology from the UST Ecclesiastical Faculties in 1980.
Ordained priest for the Archdiocese of Davao in 1980, Tonel has been serving as bishop of Zamboanga since 2023.
He was first appointed bishop of Ipil in 2007.
Garcera and Tonel will serve a two-year term and will be eligible for reelection once.
They were elected on July 5, during the first day of the CBCP’s 130th plenary assembly at Bugnaw Si-E Beach Resort, Anda, Bohol.
